A Trip to the Office
by auspizien
Summary: A series of small fics around the family life of Zoro, Sanji and their son Quin. Warning: NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER(will update as I get questions and prompts)
1. 15 Years Old

**Summary: Sanji gets a call from the office after his son Quin gets into a fight at school.**

Quin Facts:

They named their son Quin after Zoro's dead step-sister Kuina.

Sanji is the biological father, after some really shitty romantic shit went down where some things were said which Zoro still likes to pretend he never said.

Quin learned both martial arts from his fathers but is obsessed with MMA after going to one of Uncle Luffy's national matches.

* * *

**Time period: Fifteen year old Quin.**

* * *

Sanji paused before the maple panelled door, with its bubble marred windows leaving him invisible to the occupants inside, hand hovering over the rustic knob as he gave himself a small ounce of patience to deal with what was no doubt in store. This was hardly Sanji's first time having to walk into this room and deal the misbehaviour that caused him to have to be present. There had been fights with fellow students, smoking in the boy's washroom, and even messing around with a girl in the janitor's closet.

The behaviour wasn't exactly instilling Sanji's motivation to come back to the office, nor have to dish out repercussions in return for such obnoxious behaviour – behaviour that Zoro would jokingly point out he got from Sanji – but even his husband's jest couldn't stop the fact that Sanji felt morally obligated to doing right by this kid. Sure the boy was mimicking much of Sanji's childhood, but the blond finally understood that age old parental instinct where you didn't want your own kids to go through your mistakes.

Letting out a small sigh in preparation he placed his hand on the door knob, opened the portal and was faced with two heads turning to look up at him. The principal – Mr. Smoker – gruffly glaring Sanji down as he no doubt was as unhappy to see Sanji back here as Sanji was to see him. The other head belonged to his son – Quin – his sandy blond hair a complete mess as a bloody and dirt marked face looked up at Sanji in defiance and slight trepidation. Much like his father would look at Sanji, but still enough of a child to have Sanji's presence strike fear within him.

Slouching in one of the office chairs, Quin acted like he owned the damned place – though from the amount of time he spent in here it was beginning to look that way. Butt nearly hanging off the seat as he leaned so low in his chair, his long, gangly legs were bent in front of him; his skinny jeans ripped and torn and were resembling more of a mud puddle than a jean blue. Arms crossed over his chest he covered the logo of their family's dojo that was on his shirt as he turned his head away from Sanji just as fast as it had turned to face him.

Refraining from sighing in front of the boy Sanji made his way over and took the chair directly beside his son, facing Smoker and allowing Quin his moment to sulk immaturely. Sanji could give the kid one thing, he may have Sanji's looks but he was all Zoro's attitude; a quite, brooding little shit.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Roronoa."

Sanji finally released his sigh, "Let's cut to the chase; what'd he do this time?"

"Oi!" Quin started up in defiance, sentence coming to a screeching halt as Sanji sent the kid a single glare before facing the principal again. It was one nice thing that Sanji could do to Quin that he could only occasionally do to Zoro, though at the rate the boy was mimicking his fathers habits; it wouldn't belong before that stare would be useless.

"Another fight." Smoker drawled in annoyance, "Decided to pick a fight with some seniors and hospitalize two of them."

Letting out a soft groan Sanji placed a hand to his forehead, pressing at his temples wearily as he could already predict the oncoming migraine. The last time Quin had sent some kids to the hospital it had ended up being the most awkward thing ever to deal with the PTA and go to school gatherings where he ran into the other parents. How were you even supposed to apologize for it?

"They were asking for it." Quin muttered grumpily, classic defensive response as the child petulantly tried to make his argument seem somehow valid. Though Zoro and him had taught their son well Sanji was beginning to question if maybe he was putting to much faith into the kid and he was just being a rebellious little shit... Much like Sanji had been.

"Oh, really?" Smoker inclined sarcastically, "And yet you still refused to tell me what they were goading you about."

Sanji could see the look in the kid's eyes, it was the same one Zoro had that breathed, 'Fuck you.' with all the maliciousness he could muster, but thankfully the boy remained silent. Turning away completely he seemed to be done with the principal altogether. Another good trait from Zoro; the kid knew when to hold his tongue.

Abandoning Quin, Smoker turned to Sanji directly, "I can not tolerate this violent behaviour, I understand you and your husband's profession but this is highly irresponsible. He claims it was in self-defence, but will give no evidence to prove otherwise; and let's not forget the massive amount of belligerent behaviour he has been showing lately."

Eyes flicking over to his son, Quin only huffed quietly, continuing to stare out the window in his silent rage as Sanji turned back to Smoker, "We raised him well; his grades are good, he has good morals, none of his fights to date have been unjustified."

"That's not the point." Smoker growled, "We want students to use words, deal with their problems by talking."

"He's a kid." Sanji defended hotly, "That's how kids deal with shit."

"So you're condoning this behaviour?" Smoker raised a brow in interest, twisting the words around on Sanji and making the blond have to take a moment to reel in his rage and not act out inappropriately. He could hardly condone his son's behaviour if he himself acted like a raging idiot, but his visits with Smoker made him less and less patient with the professor.

"Not in the slightest." Sanji countered, "I'm just saying I think there's something else behind it all. Quin wouldn't just start a fight for no reason."

"Really?" Smoker drawled in obvious disbelief, eyes shifting the boy before grumbling, "So, what's it to be kid? Was there a justified reason for breaking that boy's arm?"

Quin's shoulders began to raised defensively, eyes shifting back and forth between Sanji and Smoker as he seemed to become more and more uncomfortable with the situation. Finally shoving himself from his seat as he uttered, "I'm going to wait outside."

Striding from the office with his jeans awkwardly hanging from around his hips Sanji refrained from yelling at the boy to get a belt and instead waited until his son had closed the door behind himself – albeit unnecessarily hard – before turning back to Smoker with a falsely improvised apologetic look, "I'll talk to him."

~X~

The car ride was eerily silent as the radio remained off in almost useless punishment, but Sanji refused to talk to the boy while driving. It would be easier to wait until they were home and then he could actually looked his son in the face, and also not risk getting them into a crash. Quin for his part seemed content with the silence as he still had his brow set in an angry frown, arms crossed as he glared out the window.

Sanji couldn't fathom at the moment what was pissing the boy off so much, but he had a feeling that it was a slowly building problem. His recent rise in delinquency had gone from simple to boyish behaviour to out right channelled frustration. It was clear that his sudden rise in misbehaving was caused from something, Sanji just hadn't realized it had gotten so out of hand that it lead Quin to want to hurt somebody else.

When they arrived home it became clear that Quin was desperate to make a bee line for his room and avoid Sanji altogether, and a part of Sanji wanted to allow the kid the privilege. Certainly it would be easier to talk to the kid when they were both a bit more level headed, but he knew his parental obligation was to immediately follow through on the repercussions of Quin's unacceptable behaviour.

Damn, but he hated being the one having to lay down the law, Zoro was just lucky he was busy teaching a class.

"Quin." Sanji started quietly as the boy struggled with kicking off his shoes before entering the house.

"What?" Quin grumbled out quietly as he kicked off his other shoe somewhat violently before storming into the living room, Sanji silently following behind his son as he mulled over exactly how to handle the situation. Though it was simple enough what he had to find out, he couldn't understand why the boy hadn't just explained to Mr. Smoker what the problem was.

If it was indeed something that Quin didn't feel like sharing with a teacher than it must've have been a fairly big issue. Letting out a small sigh he asked heavily, trying to keep any traces of disappointment from lacing into his words. Knowing that any hint of disapproval would immediately set the boy on the offensive, "Why'd you beat up those kids?"

The internal struggle was obvious on the kid's face, a mixture of humiliated embarrassment and tightly coiled anger as his hands were already curling into fists. A sick feeling of trepidation began to settled into his stomach as Sanji began to realize what was probably bothering his son. There were very few things that could rile the boy up, but it seemed like the only logical explanation for Quin lashing out without thinking.

"They were making fun of you and dad." Quin finally bit out, shoulders tensing as he seemed to be riling himself up over the whole ordeal again, obviously remembering the fight as he noted the shake to the boy's fists. "They called you fags so I beat the shit out of them."

Sanji couldn't even form words behind the pained understanding that swept through him at that moment, wanting nothing more than to pull his son into a swift hug. It had happened a lot to Quin when he had been younger – especially in elementary school where the kids would be confused by why he had two dads. He still remembered when the boy got off the bus one day and looked up at Sanji, chubby cheeks caked with mud and food from his day at school, eyes wide and curious as he asked fearfully, "Is there something wrong with us?"

Sanji had never been ashamed of what he was, frankly he was the mouthy one that would have Zoro holding him back as he would yell obscenities at anyone whom said smack to him. If Zoro wasn't around he was usually the one up in the discriminative asshole's face threatening to break his face in... But it still hurt unbelievably to see his son getting hurt and bullied over something that had nothing to do with him.

Quin had always been strong enough not to cry over the bullying, but it hadn't stopped Sanji from holding the boy close in a hug as he had murmured ridiculous things into the child's hair. Telling him over that there was absolutely nothing wrong with them, that the other kids were just confused and didn't understand; stressing to Quin how there was _nothing_ to be ashamed of.

For some reason it hurt a million times more to have his sexuality taken out on his son than having it directed at himself.

"Quin." Sanji breathed out quietly, trying to not let the kid know how upset he actually was over the whole ordeal, "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I KNOW THAT!" Quin shouted back angrily, face contorting as the edges of his blue eyes were beginning to shine from the tears he was fighting against. The boy so rarely cried it was startling to see how torn up the boy was really getting over all of this.

"I-" He choked out quietly before continuing, "I have the coolest parents in the fucking world. I remember bragging to other kids about how my dad was a professional sword fighter. Everyone talked about how their parents were firefighters, or doctors, or nurses and I got to say my Dad's taught martial arts. And – and then..."

Quin seemed unable to continue as his words were becoming so broken as he struggled to keep the sadness from leaking into his voice, though his throat was already cracking under the stress. But even as he was slowly breaking down he remained standing tall and rigid, seemingly trying to force his tears to stop while also trying to continue talking.

"It doesn't matter." Sanji urged sternly, "Whatever those people say you have to just ignore it. It doesn't matter what they thin-"

"I'M SICK OF IT!" Quin shouted over top, keeping his stance firm as he roughly wiped aside the few tears that had managed to leak free from his eyes, "I'm tired of keeping my mouth shut when people make rude comments. I'm tired of not saying anything when half the fucking school make gay jokes and don't think it's wrong. I'm so fucking tired of not doing anything when people make fun of my parents when they are literally the coolest people I know!"

"Quin..."

Sniffling loudly, Quin drew the back of his hand across his nose to wipe away the stray snot as he continued, "I did like you and Dad taught me and I've never done anything to them! But they cornered me during break between classes..."

Sanji felt utterly useless as he watched his son cry in front of him, knowing that any motion to hug or calm the boy would just lead to the teen lashing out hysterically. So he remained frozen to the spot, watching as the most precious thing in the world to him was being hurt and there was nothing he could do about it. It was clear that right now no matter what he said or did it couldn't erase the words and actions that were thrown upon him by the kids at school. And nothing was more cruel than watching your own kid suffer and be unable to help.

"Those assholes started calling you guys fags and stole my pack." Quin screamed, blue eyes brimming with tears as he shook lightly, "So I snapped and beat the shit out of them!"

Sanji was honestly at a loss from words, he didn't know how he was supposed to say anything aside from the fact that he probably wouldn't have done any different. It scared him because usually he was the level headed one when dealing with Quin – Zoro was amazing but he usually failed in the verbal consolation department – Sanji had always known the right thing to say to calm Quin down. But now here they were – same as it had been ten years ago – and yet this time Sanji couldn't find the words to make it better.

Before Sanji could even begin to try and find the words that were paining him so, Quin was already stalking away angrily wiping at his face in embarrassment, clearly not happy with showing his tears as he grunted, "I'll be in my room."

~X~

The house was oddly silent when Zoro arrived home from work, no music blasting from Quin's room nor the television playing some show from the living room. Only sign of life within the house was the lights on in some of the various rooms as he kicked off his shoes and made his way toward the kitchen where he could vaguely hear his husband working on something.

"Hey shit cook!" Zoro groused teasingly as he slunk up behind his husband, hands coming to wrap around the slim blond's waist as he placed a kiss to the base of the man's neck. Nuzzling his nose into the soft blond strands that smelt of his lover's shampoo and was far more comforting and erotic than a simple smell should be. Humming quietly as he tightened his grip he muttered, "What's for dinner?"

Instead of rising to the insult like he normal would, or sassily elbowing Zoro in the gut before telling him be patient, all he got was a small sigh and the clink of a knife being set down on the counter. Teasing forgotten as the blond leaned back into his arms heavily with a defeated sort of sigh as Zoro raised an eyebrow in question and peered over the man's shoulder.

"Who pissed in your coffee?"

"I got a call from the principal again." Sanji replied simply, not rising to the bait once again as he finally seemed to find his feet and turn in Zoro's grip, though still seemed preoccupied as he stared off vaguely toward their son's room.

Letting the blond turn, but still keeping his hands around the blond's waist he chuckled, "What'd he do this time? Shag some chick in an empty classroom?"

Zoro was really getting tired from Sanji's lack of response to his witty jibes, but when the blond finally looked up at Zoro he realized entirely what was bothering the man. It was that pained look of rejection that he got whenever he got something offensive yelled at him and thought no one could see him, it was the suffering frustration of a parent whom didn't know what to do to make things better, it was the same hollow look he had gotten the first time Quin had asked if there was something wrong with his parents.

"It happened again, huh?" Zoro asked before Sanji could respond, glancing over at the hallway that lead toward their son's room. It was oddly quite so the kid didn't seem to be taking his anger out through obnoxiously loud music nor trashing his room.

Sanji only nodded quietly before shrugging, trying to play off his discomfort by making himself seem more aloof. "Broke some kid's arm."

Chuckling, Zoro pulled the unwilling blond into a small hug and murmured, "Taught him well."

Sanji was trying to keep a disapproving face, lips pursed as he tried to fend off the impending giggles as he seemed desperate to maintain his parental facade. He lasted all of three seconds before bursting into a small fit of chuckles as he raised a hand to Zoro's shoulder and punched him lightly, "That's such a bad thing."

"Naw, it's not." Zoro mused as he rested his chin on Sanji's shoulder, vaguely staring out the window into the backyard and the tree fort that still stood prominently in the tree out on the lawn. Vaguely remembering building it with Sanji as a surprise for Quin's eighth birthday.

"We're supposed to be the mature ones." Sanji reasoned as he leaned into Zoro's hold, chin resting on Zoro's shoulder as they leaned back against the kitchen counter together, "We're supposed to tell him to use his words, and that violence isn't the answer. And tha-"

"Oh, shut it, you hypocrite." Zoro snorted roughly before pulling away with a smirk, "You know damned well you never lived by any of that shit. Besides, Quin knows when not to pick a fight. If he broke that kid's arm, then that little shit had it coming."

Zoro could see Sanji lacking an argument, knowing that the stubborn blond agreed with him but wouldn't admit it to him on instinct alone. Though the whole issue still seemed to be weighing on the blond heavily and Zoro resigned himself to having to have to talk some sense into both of his blond's.

"I'll go talk to him."

"Thanks." Sanji murmured back.

~X~

When Zoro started opening the door to his son's room he was immediately met with an extremely annoyed grunt before his son pissily snapped, "Dad, go the fuck away, I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Shut the fuck up." Zoro scoffed back as he entered his son's room, not even bothering for permission as he closed the door behind himself and glared down at his mouthy kid clutching his guitar on his bed. Those normally soft eyebrows were set into a scowl and it never ceased to annoy Zoro at seeing his own expression directed towards himself.

"Oh," Quin said softly as he seemed to realize it wasn't Sanji, look changing from annoyance to a mixture of apprehension and guilt, "Hey, Dad."

Zoro made his way over to his son's bed, sitting down heavily on the edge as he placed his foot on his knee and glanced sideways at Quin lightly. The blond clutched his guitar tighter to himself as he purposefully avoided eye contact, glancing over at the wall as though it was suddenly very interesting. It never ceased to amaze Zoro how his son revered him in a way no one else did.

He had that smart mouth of his father – the little shit never missed an opportunity to call Zoro out, tease him, and generally butt heads with his old man at any opportunity – but the kid also had an unprecedented loyalty and fear directed towards him that was astounding. It went way beyond simple respect and seemed to be the type of emotion only a kid could have towards his parents; but still it never ceased to amaze Zoro how the child would remain cocky of his actions in front of others and yet in fear of judgement when faced with Zoro.

"Did Dad send you in here to give me the riot act?" Quin finally asked, resting his chin on the edge of his guitar while still refusing to look at Zoro.

Zoro chuckled, "Naw, I believe his exact words were, "Some kids were calling us fags so Quin broke their arms; tell him dinner's ready.'"

It seemed to be exactly the wrong thing to say as the boy threw down his guitar with an enraged yell before turning to Zoro furiously, "Why are you guys always so fucking calm about this shit?!"

Cocking a curious brow he remained unfazed at his panting son, "What 'shit'?"

A flustered and annoyed expression flashed across Quin's face looking entirely too much like his father when Zoro had managed to come up with a quip that would stump the man into silence. After a moment of searching Quin grumbled out, "People calling you guy's names! And making fun of you! Doesn't it bother you?!"

"Fuck no." Zoro snorted with a laugh, "I don't give a fuck what other people think about me, and neither should you. You know there's nothing to be ashamed of; so why get riled up about it?"

"B-But-" Quin managed in frustration, "They talk shit like it's a bad thing to be gay. They make it sound like it's something disgusting."

"Is it?" Zoro cocked an eyebrow in interest, noting as the question seemed to set his son of in instant indignation.

"No!"

"Then ignore it." Zoro drawled out with a small roll of his eyes, "Everyone gets shit on for something, the key is to remember that they are underneath you."

"It – It's just so frustrating!" Quin finally fought out with a pained whine as he fell back onto his bed, hands coming up to cover his face.

"I can understand that." Zoro conceded after a moment, gently following suit and laying back on the bed beside Quin, staring up at the large poster adorning his son's ceiling. A large picture of every type of sword created, from all different ethnicities and historical time periods, with the names scrawled underneath.

They lay in silence for a few minutes, Zoro just allowing himself to relax in the comfortable bed after a long day as he listened to the breathing of his son. It was much calmer now, every now and then he would release a frustrated breath, but as time went by they became less and less angered and more just accepting.

Zoro wasn't always the best when talking to people, but Quin was mature enough that given a few minutes to calm himself down he usually wouldn't even need a stern talking to. He'd know what he did was wrong, he'd berate himself for it, and then he'd even apologize; all without Zoro really needing to say much to the kid. It was something that Zoro had really felt proud about when he looked at his son; young but still much more level headed than most kids his age.

"I've just kept quiet for so long, ya know?" Quin finally muttered, staring up at the ceiling absently, "Usually I just walk away but..."

"And we're very proud of you for it." Zoro grunted as he pushed himself up, glancing down at his son still sprawled across the bed, "You know the time and place for a fight; we taught you well enough to know that. And it's okay to lose your temper once in a while; no one is perfect."

"I'm sorry." Quin let out a held breath before slowly sitting up as well, biting his lower lip and scrunching his eyes shut as he mentally berated himself, "It won't happen again."

"It's okay." Zoro smirked, placing a hand atop his son's head and ruffling the dirty blond strands affectionately in a way that usually got him kicked by Sanji, but only made Quin dopily grin up at him. Letting his hand fall away he scoffed, "Besides you think your father is much of a saint?"

"What do you mean?" Quin chuckled as he vainly tried to straighten out his hair.

"Let's just say that the money for our second anniversary didn't go towards a dinner date." At Quin's confused and expectant looked Zoro admitted, "I had to bail him out of jail."

"You're joking?" Quin scoffed around a laugh, eyes wide in disbelief as the kid was clearly mentally coming up with several possibilities as to why his father would get thrown in jail.

"Nope." Zoro smirked devilishly, before raising an arm and leaning back into a long stretch, "But c'mon. Dinner's ready and you know your Dad hates it when you let food get cold."

""Kay." Quin conceded with a small grunt, still looking entirely to surprised and interested by the fact that Sanji had been to jail. It would be a fun story Sanji would have to explain to the kid; it would earn Zoro a swift kick in the ass later but it would so be worth it.

Pushing himself up from the bed he strode over to his son's door, opening the portal and holding it open for Quin as the boy followed Zoro's example and hopped up from the bed. Taking pause to rub at his face quickly to try and hide any remnants of the evidence that he had obviously been crying. When the boy lowered his hands his eyes were still puffy and red, but Zoro decided he wouldn't ruin the kid's fun and pretended not to notice.

"So..." Zoro stalled lightly as they exited Quin's room, grinning down sharply at his son, "Which arm bar did you use to break the kid's wrist?"

There was a small moment of trepid confusion on the boy's face before his eyes widened slightly and a large excited grin split the boys face. Heading towards the kitchen as Quin set off into ecstatic detail of how the fight had went.

~The End~

A/N: I don't know where this was spawned from... It's a 3am plot bunny that wouldn't go away...


	2. 7 Years Old

**Summary: The shitty embarrassingly romantic stuff that was said by Zoro to make Sanji the father.**

A/N: Also, quick explanation over Quin's name since there was confusion. If they had had a daughter they would have named her Kuina. Since it was a boy they dropped the 'a' and left it as Kuin. They just used the American version; Quin.

* * *

**Time period: Seven year old Quin.**

* * *

Quin was throwing a fit. They were pretty common for his age apparently, but it didn't stop Sanji from wondering how a child could scream and rage for so long without popping a blood vessel or passing out. And while Quin was usually very well mannered, when he threw a fit he tended to put his all into it. Sanji didn't like to admit it when Zoro teased him about it; but Quin definitely had gotten Sanji's temper.

Zoro was currently trying to calm the boy down, playing the role of the proper parent by letting the boy know that he could cry if he wanted to, but breaking things was not allowed. It was going fairly poor in Sanji's opinion, as Quin had long passed the point of reasoning and needed to be put in the time-out chair until he was done blowing off steam.

"I don't have to listen to you!" Quin screeched angrily, a small weak hand punched Zoro in the arm; it was practically ineffectual on the man, but nonetheless Zoro caught the fist disapprovingly.

"Quin, we do not hit." Zoro worded gently but sternly, before carefully releasing the boy's wrist, "But you need to listen to me otherwise you'll have to go to your ro-"

"I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU!" Quin shrieked hysterically, "YOU'RE NOT EVEN MY REAL DAD!" The small boy's voice cracking as his red face was pinched in anger. The words he bellowed echoed throughout the small house as everything else seemed to fall dim compared to the heart breaking words that had just been uttered.

Zoro reacted as if slapped, jerking back and away from his son as the pain and horror of what the boy had just said settled in and his mouth was left agape as he was shocked into silence. Jaw worked uselessly for a few minutes as Quin remained before him panting and crying in his hysteria. Zoro's brow began to draw down in obvious pain as he was fighting to keep rare tears at bay and Sanji immediately stepped forward ruthlessly.

Sanji had never hit a kid before but the urge to smack the boy was instinctive and strong, choking down his current disappointment in his own son he kept his hands clenched at his sides as he stared down at the boy. Quin immediately looked terrified as he knew that Sanji's silent anger was much more serious than his yelling anger, and it allowed for Sanji to turn back and look at his kneeling husband.

"Zoro?" Sanji asked cautiously, but there was no reply from the man.

Zoro placed a hand on his knee, slowly pushing himself up as his eyes remained cast down as the words were no doubt tearing the man apart on the inside. Without saying a word he turned and left the room, leaving the two blonds together in an eery silence that was already putting Quin on edge. Sanji could faintly hear the deck door close before turning back to his son whom was still choking over his earlier shed tears.

Instead of saying anything Sanji just let out a long, heavy sigh as he realized that the day had finally come when he would have to deal with this. It hadn't been a problem, but Sanji had always known in the back of his mind that someday they would have to explain the truth to the boy; he just hadn't expected it to happen this way. Quin for his part seemed completely scared into silence, knowing that he had said something that was a delicate matter.

Scooping up the boy he wandered slowly over to the bathroom, setting the child down on the sink as he pulled off a few squares of toilet paper and forced the boy to blow his nose. As the boy was busy, Sanji snatched up a face cloth and ran it under some warm water before returning and wiping away any stray tears and snot from Quin's little crying fit. Once he was done, he tossed the cloth on the side of the tub to dry before turning back to his son, currently trapped sitting up on the high sink as the guilt was obviously settling in and he was avoiding Sanji's eyes.

"Why did you say that Quin?" Sanji asked quietly, making sure to keep his voice calm and reassuring so as not to cause the boy to think he was angry. And he wasn't; not really. This was a simple reaction that most children had when dealing with step-parents or adoptive fathers.

"B-Because he's not." Quin stuttered out, eyes already shining again in fresh tears as he frowned down at his small hands currently curled in his lap, tearing up the small bit of tissue in childish destructiveness.

"Of course he is." Sanji mused lightly, gently reaching out to rub out the frown the child was currently donning. It wouldn't do to have the kid scowling like that, too much of that and he'd develop the Marimo's nasty scowl.

"No!" Quin protested angrily, swatting Sanji's hand away in annoyance as he defiantly glared up at his father, "The kid's at school say it's impossible to have two Dads! They said Zoro can't be my real Dad cause it doesn't work that way! They said I don't look like Dad, so he can't be my real Dad!"

Sanji felt his heart break anew as he realized that it had nothing to really do with him and Zoro, and had everything to do with the children at school. Of course, Sanji had always been worried that Quin would get bullied over it, but he hadn't thought it would happen so soon. It was just a sad truth that kids were completely ruthless when dealing with change or difference.

"C'mere." Sanji murmured quietly as he pulled the small boy into his arms once more, "I want to show you something."

In his and Zoro's room, Sanji set Quin down on the bed before going over the closet and rooting around for a moment; shoving aside hanging clothes and boxes before finally locating what he was searching for. Pulling out the thick, old book Sanji returned to the bed, plopping down on the covers as he pulled Quin into his lap and placed the book in Quin's.

"What's this?" Quin asked curiously, already opening the battered cover to the first page and revealing a very old photo of Zoro and Sanji. Both of them were smiling up at the camera happily, big grins on their faces; and it would have been perfect if not for Zoro putting up his fingers and giving Sanji a pair of bunny ears.

The photo itself was faded and the corners were curling and ripped, a yellowing affect overtaking it in its old age as the reflected nineteen year old selves in the photo reminded Sanji of how long it had been. Nearly fifteen years and here they were, with a house together and a seven year old son.

"I made this over the years from stuff that had happened between me and your Dad." Sanji explained quietly as Quin turned the page, revealing air-plane ticket stamps and photos of when they had went abroad to Asia. Quin seemed preoccupied with all the stimulus from the book as Sanji quietly mumbled, "And there's something really special you need to know about Dad."

Flipping through the book slowly they examined each and every page as Quin asked questions and pointed out things, Sanji trying to fight back a stupid grin at all the old memories assaulting him from looking through the old book. Photos and memorabilia from when they used to compete competitively in National tournaments, and the copied contract pasted onto a page of the ownership lease for their dojo. Several pages devoted to their wedding day, and even the first set of rings that Zoro had managed to lose, and then find again months after the wedding were taped in.

They finally were getting to the back of the book as they came to two simple pages beside each other, a contract was taped on to one page as a fading green rose was pressed and preserved on the other. Quin raised a cautious hand to touch the old flower, feeling the dried and curled leaves under his hand before looking up at Sanji.

"Why's the rose green?"

~X~

The stars were spread out across the clear sky, like a handful of glitter thrown into the air to be caught by the black tape that stretched across the expanse. Twinkling and sparkling with an amazing radiance that balanced beautifully with tranquil peacefulness of their back yard and the silence that hung softly in the night air.

Sanji could tell that Zoro had something important that he wanted to talk about. For all of his stoic actions and hidden expressions, the man was hardly subtle and after several years with the man it was easy to tell when something was on his mind. Just the fact that Zoro had dragged him out to 'star gaze' was a testament to that, not to mention Zoro was wearing his good jeans.

Lounging in one of the luxurious chairs set out on the deck, he casually twirled his after-dinner wine glass between poised fingers as he awaited whatever Zoro wanted to say. The man was obviously stalling as he stood on the edge of the porch, gazing up at the sky quietly as he seemed to be mulling over what to say first. Sanji could practically hear the man thinking but remained silent and gave Zoro his time.

Eventually Zoro turned around and casually made his way over to Sanji, hands tucked into his pockets as he stopped in front of Sanji, standing with his legs just barely brushing up against Sanji's bent knees. Reaching out toward the vase of flowers that were adorning the patio table he pulled one out from the centre; much more elegant than the other posies and chrysanthemums in its uniqueness.

The strong emerald green rose was slowly proffered to Sanji whom took it without saying anything, though raised a sceptical brow in question. Zoro never gave him flowers, let alone roses. One their wedding day Zoro had distinctly told Sanji that if he ever saw another rose after their wedding he was going to spew chunks. It was the most romantic thing the man could have possibly said during their first dance together.

"D-Do you know what green stands for?" Zoro stuttered out after a moment, clearly already berating himself for stuttering over the first word as a hand was placed to the back of his neck. A nervous habit he had that he probably wasn't even aware of, as he scratched the back of his neck while watching Sanji carefully.

"Your head?" Sanji ventured with a raised eyebrow, swinging the rose around to use it to point at the mop of green currently getting a bit out of hand on his husband's head. It was almost falling into his eyes now and was well over due for a trim.

Zoro flushed at the jest as he bit out, "Shut it!"

Sanji only chuckled, glad the tension between them was broken as he leaned back in his chair comfortably, finally taking on a serious tone as he murmured, "No. What does it mean?"

"Well," Zoro paused as he cast his eyes to the side for a moment, "It has several meanings."

Sanji remained completely silent as he waited for the point his husband obviously wanted to make.

"Nature. Healing. Peace... Fertility." At the last word Zoro finally glanced up, sharp eyes watching Sanji for any hint that maybe what he was saying was a bad idea before muttering, "Family?"

That had Sanji's eyes wideneding in shock, sitting up in his seat as it was probably the last word he had expected to come out of his husband's mouth. Zoro was a softie with children but the man had never given an inkling that he had ever wanted a kid of his own. Jaw hanging open pathetically he just stared up at Zoro as he honestly couldn't find the words for how elated and shocked he was.

The silence seemed to unnerve Zoro and he grinned wearily, "Um... Is it too soon?"

Just the thought of starting a family with Zoro had a ridiculous grin breaking out across Sanji's face as the full thought began to settle in. A family. Not just him and Zoro any more and their small dojo, but an actual family. It had always been one of those pipe dreams that he hadn't put much thought into after meeting Zoro, but now...

Glass and rose discarded Sanji jumped up from his seat, throwing his arms around Zoro swiftly as he pulled the man into a tight hug as he buried his head in Zoro's shoulder. Arms squeezing as much as they could he let out a shuddering breath in disbelief as Zoro's arms came up around him to return the hug. They remained frozen in each others embrace for a long moment before Zoro finally spoke up.

"So." Zoro chuckled softly, "Is that a yes?"

"Of course!" Sanji exclaimed quickly as he pulled away from the crook of Zoro's shoulder as he looked into his husband's face in disbelief and barely restrained excitement. There was so much currently festering beneath Sanji he couldn't properly find the emotion to express on his face or the words to say first. Instead he just opted for throwing himself back into the hug with a small cry of excitement into the Marimo's shoulder.

Zoro started full on laughing, tightening his hold as he leaned back and pulled the blond from his feet before dropping him back down. It didn't seem that either of them could really say anything intelligent beyond their sudden contagious laughter, and their inability to let go of each other. Sanji wasn't sure his hands would ever be able to let go of Zoro's shirt.

As his ecstatic laughter began to die down Sanji chuckled into Zoro's shoulder, going for playfulness to try and cover up the embarrassment of such a sappy moment shared with the Marimo, "You want a little protege is that it?"

"Something like that." Zoro joked back lightly, as he turned his head to nuzzle his face against Sanji's hair while humming happily.

"Well, do you want to adopt?" Sanji asked curiously as he pulled away to look at Zoro, the man had clearly been thinking about this for some time, so he must have some idea as how he wanted to go about doing it, "Or... something else?"

"I already thought it over." Zoro admitted seriously.

"Mm." Sanji hummed with a smirk, letting his hands curl up and play with Zoro's ridiculously long hair, pulling on strands playfully as he looked up at Zoro, "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Zoro breathed back somewhat breathlessly, an infectious grin starting to break across the man's face from his obvious glee over the matter. Eyes shining with a sort of excitement that Sanji was only ever used to seeing when he was fighting, or talking about one of his previous competitions; it was a look of pure joy.

"I-" Zoro paused as he let out a shuddering breath in his excitement before managing, "I want the kid to be yours."

Sanji was honestly taken aback for a moment, jerking slightly away from the Marimo as his hands stilled in their tugging as he watched Zoro with wide, confused eyes. That had been the last thing he had been expecting Zoro to say. Sanji had fully been expecting the swordsman to claim to want a kid to carry on his legacy, or some other medieval bullshit like that.

"Why?" Was the only intelligent thing that Sanji managed to blurt out as he continued to stare in confusion at his husband.

"I – I love you, Sanji." Zoro grumbled out, shaking his head as he looked at Sanji in what was plainly awe, "For all you call me narcissistic for working out all the time, I don't want to look at my son and see me." Zoro murmured as he raised a gentle hand to brush Sanji's bangs out of his face as he smiled softly, "I want to look at my son or daughter and see the man I fell in love with. I want to look at my kid and love them as much as I love you."

Once more Sanji was at a loss for words, but his first instinct was his want to smack Zoro over the head for surprising him with such shittily sappy words. It was hardly fair for Zoro to claim to be an unromantic idiot and then go and say shit like this to the blond and cause his cheeks to light up as red as a tomato. All he could do was watch Zoro wordlessly for a few moments before finally finding his voice, pressing his forehead up against Zoro's affectionately.

"You can be terribly romantic when you want to be." Sanji murmured against Zoro's lips, as his hands threaded through thick green locks, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as Zoro's growled back. Hands tightening around Sanji in silent punishment, he pulled the blond in close, sealing his lips over his husband's in a passionate kiss, but not before muttering.

"Shut up."

~X~

Quin listened quietly to the story, hand gently touching the rose in reverence before turning to look up at Sanji with wide blue eyes. Sanji knew that biologically there was nothing of Zoro in his son, but whenever he looked at the boy; all he saw was the green-haired punk. The expressions he made, the way he spoke, even his attitude; there was no doubt that the boy's father was Zoro Roronoa.

"So, the kids at school are right." Sanji began quietly, "Zoro isn't your birth father, but he his your Dad. He's the reason you are alive right now, and I don't know how it's possible but I'm pretty sure he loves you even more than I do."

Quin seemed to mull it over for a moment before he began to sniffle quietly, hands coming up to press the palms of his hands into his eyes as he tried to rub away his fresh tears. I wasn't long before he was full on crying once more and Sanji gently set the book aside so he could once more pull his son into his arms and rock him soothingly while humming into his messy blond hair affectionately.

"I'm sorry I said that." Quin mumbled out into Sanji's shirt, wetting the fabric with tears and snot once more as he bawled in Sanji's arms, "I'm sorry Dad!"

"Let's go find Dad." Sanji murmured quietly, as he stood up from the bed with his son still cradled in his arms protectively, "I'm sure he'd like to see you."

"Do you think he'll be mad?" Quin asked into Sanji's shoulder, the small boy's body still shuddering from his crying, but the sobs having thankfully stopped. Patting a reassuring hand on Quin's back he tried to soothe out the trembling as they went out onto the back deck.

"No," Sanji smiled as he watched Zoro sitting quietly on one of the swings in the back yard, "He'd never be mad at you."

Zoro looked up as he heard Sanji's words, eyeing both his husband and son with fondness; though his happiness was lined with worry and sadness. It pained Sanji to see it, but he gave a reassuring smile as Quin turned in his arms to look at his Dad staring up at him.

"Daddy!" Quin shouted loudly, tears already falling anew as he struggled in Sanji's grip, making it almost harder to put the kid down without dropping him. But Quin managed to jump down fine, already running across the back yard screaming his Dad's name over and over as Zoro rushed forward just as fast.

Falling to his knees in front of his son he scooped the boy up into a swift hug, burying Quin's head in his shoulder as he boy sobbed loudly and tears were leaking from Zoro's eyes. A large hand cupped Quin's delicate head and held the boy to him as the other placed firmly around the boy's back; holding him as close as possible as little hands tangled in Zoro's shirt and the boy cried.

Not making much sense besides choking and babbling into Zoro's shoulder as he apologized over and over and seemed to become stuck between the word 'Sorry' and 'Dad' as he cried. Zoro seemed almost motionless except for the occasional jerk in his shoulders where Sanji could tell the man was fighting back sobs; though at this point they were probably sobs of relief rather than sorrow.

Placing a hand over his mouth Sanji forcefully fought to keep his tears at bay, not wanting to have all three of them crying in the back yard. Though it didn't stop his eyes from stinging painfully as he watched the display quietly, hoping that they would never have to deal with something like this ever again.

Eventually Quin cried himself to sleep in Zoro's arms and the man slowly pushed himself up, son gently cradled in his arms as he approached the deck. Eyes red and tears on his cheeks, but for once the man didn't seem to care as he lean against Sanji for a moment, pressing a kiss to Sanji's cheek before walking past and into the house.

Sanji eventually followed, waiting quietly in the kitchen as Zoro put the boy down for a nap before coming back out, having obviously wiped away some of the tears, but had stopped caring about the puffiness of his eyes. He immediately stalked over to Sanji, arms coming around him in a desperate hug as he buried his face in Sanji's shoulder, much like Quin had done earlier.

"Thank you." Zoro grumbled out quietly, leaning a large amount of his weight into Sanji as he seemed to be both relieved and weary at the same time.

Sanji didn't do anything but hold the man back, knowing Zoro would just need a moment to recover before he'd be back to his normal jeering self. But it wasn't a shock at all that the boy's actions had affected him so; Zoro loved that boy more than Sanji had really expected or thought possible.

"I knew it would happen at some point," Zoro conceded quietly, mumbling the words into Sanji's shoulder, "I just wasn't ready for it."

"I think I'm going to give him that book." Sanji mused absently, hand still rubbing absent soothing circles into the Marimo's back, "Not that he'll ever need a reminder, but I think he'd appreciate it."

"Oh god." Zoro groaned out quietly as he slowly pulled back to look down at his husband, realizing how exactly Sanji had calmed Quin down and made the boy feel so remorseful, "You showed him?"

"Yeah," Sanji scoffed before smirking, "And I told him all about the rose."

Zoro's eyes widened at that and he looked almost scandalized as he screeched quietly so as not to wake Quin, "You promised never to tell anyone about that!"

"What?" Sanji cooed, reaching out to pinch Zoro's cheek before his hand was slapped away sharply – damn but Quin was already far too much like Zoro in his slapping habits, "Because little moss head doesn't want the world to know how romantic he is?"

"You better not have told anyone else." Zoro threatened low, the challenge shining in his eyes slowly replacing the earlier sorrow that would hopefully fade entirely. Quin was a smart kid, Sanji didn't likely think anything else like this would probably happen again.

"Not a soul." Sanji placed a hand over his heart, closing his eyes as he took the false vow, before cracking an eye open slyly and grinning at Zoro, "Although I did tell Nami."

"What?!"

"And maybe Robin..." Sanji mulled thoughtfully, placing a finger to his lips in playful consideration.

"You are so dead, Cook!"

Sanji cackled manically as he booked it out of the kitchen with his husband hot on his heels, nearly tripping over a discarded toy of Quin's as he desperately ran away from Zoro. In truth he really hadn't told anyone – besides Quin – it was one of the few precious Marimo moments that he chose to keep to himself.

"Get back here!"

THE END

* * *

A/N: HAHA! OMG I actually teared up while writing this... Weird...


	3. 1 Week Old

**Summary: Zoro spends some time with his new born son.**

* * *

**Time Period: One week old Quin.**

* * *

Zoro sat numbly on the couch in the living room, lights dimmed so as not to wake the sleeping child currently cradled protectively within his arms. Wrapped warmly in an ocean blue blanket, the newborn had barely been home from the hospital a week. Practically sleeping every hour of the day, and yet still captivating every moment of Zoro's attention. Somehow the hours seemed completely meaningless when he could coddle the precious infant in his arms and know that he was the boys' father.

Though Zoro's hands still shook nervously sometimes when Sanji would hand the boy off to him, almost scared to be given something so precious to hold in his clumsy hands. The delicacy of handling his swords couldn't compare to the gentleness he portrayed while holding the small boy protectively in his arms. As precious as his katana were to him, the cherished life he currently held in his hands fulfilled him more than any victory ever could.

Eyelids were shut over sleeping eyes, an amazing blue when open that he had no doubt gotten from Sanji, and somehow managed to pierce deeper than Sanji's ever had. Whereas Sanji's eyes always looked at him with passion and love, Quin's watched him with curious innocence and an unwavering trust that frankly scared him. It had scared him since the first moment at the hospital where he had been handed the screaming child, and instead of fearing him, had immediately ceased his crying as though Zoro's presence alone had somehow been soothing.

As Zoro smiled down warmly at the bundle content in his arms he was once more in awe of how small and delicate the child was. Zoro could easily hold him in one hand, and as he held the bundled boy in his crossed arms he couldn't help but feel awkward holding something so precious. Little head peeping out from the blankets was rested against his bicep in a make shift pillow as he seemed completely unaware of the world around him.

A small blue hat was pulled down on the child's head to keep him warm, hiding the obvious blond hair that was already sprouting on the kids head. Another sign that he was clearly his father's son and only causing a dopey grin to work its way onto Zoro's face, though still mixing with his awkward grimace of jitters while holding the delicate baby.

But for all of his jumbled nervousness, excitement, and anxiety, he couldn't help but become breathless as he looked down at his son. Because that was what Quin was; his son. A precious little budding life that was Zoro's to nurture, encourage, grow and care for.

The angel of a child rarely cried, and though his face scrunched up as he began to awaken; all that left his mouth was a frustrated cry as he disentangled a hand from his blankets before quieting down once more. The small, chubby hand that was still instinctively curled into a little fist came up to rub at the boy's sleepy eyes. Still not quite in control of his body, the baby's arm jerked adorably as he lightly smacked himself in the face while rubbing his eyes.

Arm lowering the boy slowly cracked open his sleepy eyes, confusion laced on his tiny face as he looked around for what had hit him, clearly already forgetting that it was his own hand. Blinking a few more times the glowing blue eyes seemed to finally focus properly on Zoro, large orbs widening in excitement as the child immediately giggled happily. Toothless mouth giving Zoro a gum filled smile that had chubby cheeks puffing out cutely.

Free hand extending towards Zoro, Quin waved his hand around with small jerky movements as his motor skills were still not quite fine tuned. But Zoro understood the emotion simply enough and offered his free hand to the baby, watching as the boy slowly curled his little fist to wrap delicate fingers around Zoro's index. Little digits not even big enough to wrap fully around one of Zoro's fingers.

Zoro watched warmly as the boys' jaw worked absently, cute toothless mouth making adorable spit bubbles as his weak little hand tugged on Zoro's finger. Letting the boy pull the finger in close he once more marvelled at how large his hand was compared to the little body, fond smile growing wider as he watch Quin swiftly loose interest in his finger and begin glancing around the room.

A small chuckle from the doorway had Zoro glancing up at the older version of the child Zoro currently was holding, sweat pants hanging loosely from his hips as he was clearly enjoying the paternal leave from work to stay with Quin. Sanji had an oddly affectionate look plastered across his face before letting out a small breath, "You're so adorable."

"He is…" Zoro murmured out quietly as he glanced down at the boy who's eyes had widened distinctly upon hearing Sanji's voice.

Squirming pathetically in Zoro's arms the boy managed to loose his hat in the process of trying to look behind him, though his neck muscles were obviously not strong enough. A look of shocked curiosity was painted across Quin's face, mouth parted as he tried to whip his head back and forth to look at the sound he had heard. Zoro chuckled quietly at how adorable the child looked before turning slightly as Sanji walked into view, waving down at Quin with a broad grin.

Quin immediately lit up further upon seeing his other father whom climbed up on the couch to sit behind Zoro, grinning over the man's shoulder down at Quin. Still highly elated Quin looked back and forth between Zoro and Sanji with an awed expression. Between work and how often the boy was sleeping, they hadn't gotten to spend too much time altogether in the one week Quin had been back, but it still tugged sharply at his heart seeing the boy so ecstatic to see both of them.

Sanji smiled down fondly at Quin before turning to Zoro, pressing a kiss to the man's forehead before sniping, "I meant _both_ of you, shithead."

Zoro only chuckled, glancing back down at Quin as he jabbed, "I thought we weren't going to swear in front of him."

"Oh," Sanji crooned in his best coddling voice, leaning forward to gently nuzzle his nose against Quin's, causing the baby to shriek sharply in the best imitation of a giggle, "He doesn't know what I'm saying as long as I talk like this. Isn't that right? Isn't it?"

"God, your baby coddling voice it almost creepier than your woman coddling voice." Zoro groaned out with a roll of his eyes, though unable to admit that the crooning voice seemed to really entertain Quin. Zoro hadn't yet tried it on the boy, but he was almost positive that Quin was laugh _at_ Sanji, not with him.

"Shut it." Sanji singsonged, keeping a brilliant smile plastered on his face as he continued watching Quin while his spare hand pinched Zoro sharply in the side.

"Are you trying to make me drop him?" Zoro squirmed with an indignant grunt, Quin still shrieking happily in his arms.

"Mmm." Sanji hummed, turning to look at Zoro with a quirked lip, hand guiding Zoro's jaw up into a chaste kiss before he murmured, "Drop him and you're dead to me."

Zoro just returned the threat with a immaturely stuck out tongue before turning his attention back to the baby in his arms whom was still giggling happily from the whole spectacle. Though it didn't seemed to last long as a small growl emitted from the boy's stomach and his lower lip began to tremble nervously, tears already welling at the corners of blue eyes.

Pathetically Zoro looked up at Sanji for what to do, eyes wide in terror as Sanji seemed to be fighting down laughter so as not to upset Quin further. Instead he choked it down and carefully climbed off the couch, allowing a gently hand to trail through Zoro's hair as he did so, "He's probably hungry. I'll go grab some formula."

"Okay." Zoro muttered, watching Sanji leave through the corner of his eye, noting the moment he was out of the room before carefully righting the baby, resting the sobbing face on his shoulder as he bounced lightly to sooth the child. Quin's cries quieted somewhat, but still sniffled into Zoro's shoulder in between small bouts of sobs.

"It's okay." Zoro soothed quietly, thumb gently stroking the thin blond strands on the baby's head as he continued to rock his body to soothe the boy, "You're okay."

Zoro wasn't nearly as good at using his voice to coddle Quin as Sanji was; the blond had entertaining accents, spoke in French to make the boy giggle, and was able to just generally coo at the boy until he was in hysterics. He wasn't able to make quacking noises, or recite tongue twisters, or even sing a gentle lullaby to rock Quin to sleep. Not for lack of trying but he had realized right away just how awkward he was at it, not to mention Sanji's laughing at him didn't help…

"You're actually more than okay." Zoro murmured softly as he decided that keeping talking was probably the best thing to do, "You're going to be great."

Quin's sobs quieted completely at that as he seemed to be listening to Zoro's voice intently. That caused a small surge of confidence to swell in Zoro's chest as he smiled fondly, he may have been new to this parenting thing but that wasn't going to stop him from being the best damn dad in the world.

"The best actually." Zoro corrected with a small chuckle, the boy seeming to have stopped his crying completely, but still sniffled into his shoulder quietly, "At whatever you choose to do; I know you'll be able to do it."

Zoro was slowly starting to realize why Sanji had slowly fallen into the ease of making faces for Quin and talking to the boy, because the more and more that Zoro spoke to him, the more relieved he felt. Because everything he was saying was true, and being able to finally say it left him breathlessly happy.

"You remember that, okay?" Zoro asked seriously, turning his head as much as he could to see the boy still pouting on his shoulder, "You're always going to be Number One to me."

A bottle was swiftly dangled in front of Zoro's field of vision and he looked back up at the returned blond with a small look of surprise. An evil sort of grin was plastered across the blond's face as he handed the bottle off to Zoro before crooning, "_Adorable._"

"Shut up!"

TBC…

* * *

A/N: I needed fluff! I needed to choke myself in it! So, I did…


	4. 13 Years Old

**Summary: When Quin had first begun to walk, Zoro had taught him how to fall. As soon as Quin had learned to fall, Zoro had taught him how to get back up. And once Quin had learned to stand on his own, Zoro taught him how to make others fall.**

* * *

**Time Period: 13 Year Old Quin**

* * *

When Quin had first begun to walk, Zoro had taught him how to fall. Every day he would take the boy to the family dojo that he and Sanji had started several years ago, dress him up in a small Judoka gi, and he would teach him how to properly roll out of a fall. It wasn't really for martial arts purposes, as it was more just to give the child some useful skill sets; he couldn't count how many times they had met other parents at learning groups that had children with broken wrists because their child hadn't known how to properly roll out of a tumble.

As soon as Quin had learned to fall, Zoro had taught him how to get back up. Once the boy had turned five they spent every afternoon after school in the dojo – mostly just playing – but also teaching Quin basic steps and movements to protective Judo throws and offensive Ju Jitsu strikes. All of it was mostly for fun, and it became Quin's favourite thing to do after school.

And once Quin had learned to stand on his own, Zoro taught him how to make others fall. He and Sanji had both trained Quin in their preferred martial arts, as well as any others that Quin was interested in. Along with a hoard of other kids from the dojo they took regular tournament trips, took home medals, and watched as Quin became somewhat of a prodigy in his age group.

Now, as Zoro was training with the boy in the dojo, he could hardly believe that the little toddler whom he had cradled carefully when showing him his first Judo roll, now had him on the ropes and was nearly taking his head off. Ducking a fast kick he jumped back, arm coming up just in time to deflect a viciously paced punch that was clearly meant for his face.

"What's the matter, Dad?" Quin chuckled, severely out of breath, but still radiating with energy as he pulled away from striking Zoro. Retaining a defensive stance, arms raised, as he watched Zoro carefully, "Getting tired?"

"You mock just like your Father." Zoro scoffed, lunging forward and feigning a punch while his foot hooked behind the boy's ankle. As Quin made to jumped back his foot caught just as Zoro pulled his punch and instead harshly connected his elbow with the boy's chest, sending him sprawling back onto the ground, "Less talking, more fighting."

Long ago Quin used to lay on the ground when Zoro had managed to knock him down in a fight – from either pain or annoyance, it depended on the day – but training with Zoro had greatly improved Quin's stamina and he always seemed to spring out of any fall like a slinky. Just like Sanji in his fluidity, he would barely let his back hit the mats before he would kick his feet over his head, plant his hands and back flip on to his feet before rushing Zoro.

As he dodged another well executed kick, Zoro was getting more and more surprised every week with Quin's progression as he was beginning to have to actually work fairly hard against his son to not let him take him down. Still not quite as fast as Sanji, but for a thirteen year old boy he was more than adequate in his skill level and would easily take gold in the tournament they were currently training for.

Quin huffed lightly, clearly getting a little tired from his constant offensive as Zoro watched a creative glint spark behind the boy's blue eyes. Depending on the day they would trade between offensive and defensive practice, but Zoro always stressed the need to practice inventive offensive. In tournaments you had your fair share of kids that would stay defensive until they could counterstrike, and so Zoro urged Quin to practice his offensive skills daily.

Anyone could defend and then strike when the opportune moment came, but it took a true master to stay on a steady offensive, dodge counter strikes, and also be able to find a way to break through a defence.

Zoro watched curiously as he tried to work out what Quin was planning, though from the movement of his shoulders and hips he couldn't see anything different from his usual strike patterns. Darting forward he shot out an aggressive heel for Zoro's face – a bit misplaced which Zoro would have to criticize him for later – before the boy launched himself forward as he began to bring his leg down swiftly.

Eyes widening, a moment too late Zoro realized his mistake. Being to assured in Quin's steady movements he had assumed the boy not capable enough of pulling a feigned kick without having his foot placed wrongly. Stepping back quickly he found it was already too late as Quin's leg came down to hook his ankle and pull him off his feet in a smooth foot sweep. As the first jerk of falling settled in, he braced himself for the mats as he realized that Quin must have been practising feints with Sanji at some point.

Using the momentum of his foot sweep Quin twisted with the force of it, completely spinning a three sixty as he planted his foot and swung his other out sharply. Top of his foot connecting perfect with Zoro's cheek bone as the young teen slammed him bodily into the mat.

~X~

Zoro remembered when he had Sanji had first discussed who the surrogate would be for the child. Zoro had been pretty impartial as long as the person had a good immunity record, while Sanji had been fairly adamant that the woman would need green hair despite how rare the gene was. After making fun of the blond for being so sentimental about Zoro's hair, it had eventually lead to a pretty heated fight that had ended with a rewarding trip to the bedroom.

The girl they had eventually found had been rather adorable; looking more like a sixteen year old than a twenty nine year old whom had been a surrogate mother to over five children already. Keimi had been basically everything they had been looking for, right down to the green hair and the brown eyes.

Keimi was more than competent in what she was doing, and basically talked him and Sanji through the entire thing. Explaining all the vitamin supplements she was taking, and the diet she had planned out to make the pregnancy a perfectly healthy one. Sanji was fascinated by it, Zoro had honestly just been kind of confused by it. Regardless the first few months passed easily enough before noticeable affects had started to take place, and it wasn't until the second trimester that they had begun visiting Keimi much more often.

Zoro remembered the day Sanji had been kneeling in front of Keimi, her legs wrapped in a pink blanket for warmth as Sanji had his hands holding her belly gently. Eyes wide and mouth open in awe as he had apparently felt Quin move under his hands. Zoro had only watched awkwardly as he still wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to act around his unborn son; he certainly hoped he wasn't the only future father in the world that was a stupid mixture of excited and nervous.

Since the moment he had first met Keimi and been introduced to their currently womb enclosed child, he had been awkward. Not in his usual grumpy, overbearing intimidation way, but just in an odd, uncomfortable way. More than once Sanji had likened him to a skittish deer that Sanji had to coax through each meeting as though any sudden movement might have him running out the door. Zoro had told Sanji to go fuck himself.

It wasn't that he was scared, it was more of just an unbelievable amount of nervousness as he began to realize more an more that he would soon be a dad. Watching quietly as Sanji slowly stood up, the blond grinned at him and gestured to Keimi encouragingly.

"Come feel your son kick." Keimi urged happily, remaining reclined in the chair as she waved a hand over. Her smile was gentle as her other hand cradled her ever growing stomach, massaging slowly as she watched Zoro expectantly.

Zoro slowly made his way over from the doorway, his steps somewhat clumsy and were the opposite of the usually sure footed martial artist he was. Getting more nervous with each step, before he finally stood before the woman. Looking at Sanji for a moment before dropping to his knees, level with Keimi's stomach as he watched it in slight trepidation.

Glancing up at Sanji once more, the blond gave a reassuring smile and urged his husband onward with a small motion of his hands. Zoro swallowed visibly before turning back to Keimi as he reached out his hands, trembling slightly from what could have been nervousness or excitement, Zoro couldn't tell.

Keimi took Zoro's hands in hers, guiding them to a spot on her stomach where the little guy was currently kicking before removing her hands and letting Zoro just feel. His large, rough hands made Keimi's stomach seem almost small as he cradled the skin carefully, fingers curling around the belly as his eyes were focused intently on the skin underneath his palms. Hands awkwardly cupping the woman's belly as he felt bad having his calloused fingers on such smooth skin, as he focused on the heated skin under his palms and the child waiting underneath.

For several long moments there was no change, until finally there was a sharp jolt as something underneath punched up to hit Zoro's palm and his eyes widened in shock before a laugh left his lips. Joy completely enveloped Zoro's as he stared down at the belly under his hands in what could only be described as awe; almost in disbelief at finally feeling his son move for the first time in his life.

Another kick could be seen against the stretched skin as Keimi made a small sound of surprise from the force of it. Zoro glanced up at her with slight concern before she waved it off casually.

"He's definitely a kicker." Keimi giggled lightly.

A weird sort of look passed across Zoro's face as he could barely grasp the irony of it, before he leaned forward, forehead pressing against the skin reverently as a wry smile worked its way onto his face. Eyes falling shut as he became content in feeling their son move beneath the woman's belly, the occasional kick ever once in a while only testifying to the fact that it really was Sanji's son.

"Yeah..." Zoro murmured after a moment, smile still growing wider as his eyes slowly opened to gaze up at Sanji adoringly, "He is."

~X~

Zoro blearily stared up at the ceiling of the dojo as the ringing in his ears began to fade, feeling the burning throb on his cheek where Quin had managed to connect a beautiful kick. Still somewhat in shock as he pushed himself up to gaze up at the teen that currently had a mixture of fear and joy plastered across his face from successfully managing to knock his father down for the first time.

Arms still raised defensively as Zoro let out a small chuckle, pushing himself to his feet as he grinned down at the boy that was swiftly beginning to out grow him. Sanji's genetics showing through once more as the lean yet lanky kid was shooting up like a green bean. Zoro could hardly believe that such a short time ago he had been feeling those gentle little kick's from the baby, and now the boy was knocking him off his feet.

"Gotchya." Quin grunted happily, arms slowly lowering as Zoro made his way over. Hand hovering over the blond's head, pausing in his usual affectionate ruffle of the kids hair as he chuckled.

"Certainly did." Zoro chuckled as Quin just gave Zoro a shit eating grin, gums nearly exposed in his little bout of cockiness as Zoro scoffed. Previously raised arm encircling Quin's neck as he put the boy into a playful choke hold, lifting the lanky teen off his feet as he laughed into the boy's ear, "You think I'm letting you off that easily after kicking me in the face?"

"Gghuck!" Quin garbled as Zoro flexed, tightening the choke as Quin pulled at Zoro's arm, "Ah! No fair Dad!"

"Everything's fair in a fight." Zoro grinned, free hand coming down to begin tickling the blond in the side. His fingers roughly grinding into the boy's ribs as he laughed, "I didn't call the end of the fight; you dropped your guard."

"AH! DAD! NO! STOP! HAHA!" Quin shrieked loudly, laughing into between his shrill cries to be let go as they dropped to the mats, Zoro keeping him pinned as he continued to tickled the boy, "I'm sorry! I'm sorRY! HAHAHA! StoP! STOP! I can't breat-"

"Don't make him wet himself, Marimo."

Zoro's hands stilled as he glanced over his shoulder at the blond that had just entered the room – still his in Capoeira uniform from teaching a class in one of the other rooms in the dojo. Quin welcomed the interruption as he took gasping breaths of air into his lungs. Only chuckling, Zoro explained, "Hey, he deserved it."

"And I wouldn't wet myself!" Quin shouted indignantly from under Zoro, hands already trying to push the much larger adult off of himself.

"Only playing." Sanji grinned, as he followed suit and dropped to a sitting position on the mats so he was on level with the other two as Zoro finally released his son, sitting back on his own and letting the teen push himself up and catch his breath. As Quin straightened his ruffled gi Sanji glanced over at Zoro, eyes widening.

"Oh shit, Mossball." Sanji chuckled, finger coming up to wheedle harshly at the blooming bruise on his cheek, "What happened to you?"

"I got him." Quin piped up proudly, that shit eating grin once more in place as Zoro couldn't help but smile warmly at the boy.

"Yeah." Zoro chuckled, hand coming up to properly follow through on the boy's hair ruffling this time, "He certainly did."

"Uh oh." Sanji smirked, "Soon he's going to be full on kicking your ass."

"Yeah, Dad!" Quin mimicked his father, his proud smile turning somewhat more cocky as Zoro was once more contemplating torturing the kid with tickles again. "Soon I'm going to be beating you!"

"Go shower." Zoro grunted, though unable to hide his pride as a smile lit up his own face at his son's determination, "I think we've done enough for today."

"Kay." Quin nodded happily, already working off his gi as he asked quickly, "It's Friday; can I go over to Belle's house?"

Sanji glanced over at Zoro whom shrugged before looking back at the boy, "I don't see why not."

"Yes!" Quin crowed excitedly, already running off toward the change room to get changed from his uniform back into his clothes. They both watched him go quietly, waiting until he was out of ear shot before Sanji finally rounded on Zoro, placing a chaste kiss to his lips in greeting.

"How was training?" Sanji murmured.

"Good." Zoro grinned happily, pulling the blond into his lap and resting his chin on the man's shoulder. Just enjoying the tranquil atmosphere of the empty dojo and being able to just hold his husband quietly, "I think he's going to seriously kill it at the tournament on Sunday."

"Yeah." Sanji chuckled, eyes lowering to the bruising mark on Zoro's cheek, "If he managed to do that to you, I'm worried for his opponents."

"I'm considering bumping him up a weight class for training."

"Yeah, alright. Mr. Miyagi." Sanji scoffed, "Stop being a teacher now and be a dad."

"I'm already the World's Greatest Dad." Zoro scoffed into Sanji's shoulder, "Didn't you see the coffee mug he got me for Christmas?"

"Christ, get over yourself." Sanji chuckled, "We both know I'm the cool parent."

"You wish." Zoro growled through a laugh, spinning them swiftly as he pinned Sanji down on the mats. Neither of them really putting much effort into fighting back as Zoro just lazily lay on top of the blond, elbow propped on the mats as he took the free moment to take in the perfect features of his husband's face without interruption.

Sanji only smiled back just as dopily, clearly enjoying the moment as well since it was rare to get such a quiet moment together without a child under foot. Free hands coming up to run lightly through Zoro's hair as a bit of mischievous grin worked its way onto the man's face, "Let's drop Quin off at Luffy's for a sleepover with Belle. Then I can think of several great ways to spend a free Friday night."

Zoro just smirked back at the blond, already well ahead of the man and his train of thought...

TBC...

* * *

A/N: I got big feels from this chapter because a lot of it is based of me and my Dad... He began teaching me Judo when I was two and since it's been a constant battle to get one up on him. The first time I matched him in strength and managed to throw him I was about 14, and honestly it felt like a right of passage :)


End file.
